Socialist Empire of Russia
History 14th and 15th Centuries Muscovite Growth Although Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoi and the Battle of Kulikovo in the 14th Century had thrown off Mongol domination of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and related principalities for a time, this was ultimately short-lived with a renewed Mongolian campaign subduing the Russians anew. However, some would later say that this even served as a catalyst for Russia, invigorating her people even as infighting among the far reaches of the Khanate weakened it from the inside out. This would come to a head during the 15th Century, when Ivan III took control of Muscovy. Under his leadership, the rival power of Novgorod was subdued by 1478. Despite subsequent revolutions, Novgorod remained under Muscovite control, in part thanks to retaliatory purges. This was only part of a greater trend as other principalities had been absorbed in years prior, growing the power of Muscovy. Independence Seized This new power emboldened Ivan III, even as the regional Khanate powers seemed to be fracturing from internal strife centered around Crimea. In 1475, Ivan III refused any further tributary payments to the Khanate, provoking a new Mongolian campaign to bring the Russians into line. Unfortunately for the Khanate, this campaign failed spectacularly after the Khanate’s forces failed to break through the Russian Stand on the Ugra River. As a direct result, Muscovy was freed from Mongolian domination and Ivan III went on to absorb several remaining Russian principalities and Lithuanian towns, further expanding Muscovite power a policy further continued by his inheritor Vasili III despite conflicts with Mongolian forces around Crimea and Kazan. 16th Century These conflicts continued into the 16th Century, with Khanate raids lasting through the 1530s. However, the new Grand Prince of Moscow, Ivan IV later Ivan Grozny was able to take advantage of the internal fractures of his Khanate foes, manipulating some into turning against each other in internecine conflicts and securing the neutrality of Khanate lords near Saray-Jük. With this, Ivan IV was able to march on, siege, and take the Khanate city of Kazan. This in turn allowed him to annex the Middle Volga and seize control of Khanate territories around the mouth of the Volga and on the Caspian Sea a few years later, thanks in part to pro-Muscovite elements within the Khanate lands there. This did not end Muscovite-Khanate conflicts, however, and raids out of Crimea continued intermittently until 1571 when Crimean Khanate forces were defeated, stopping their northern raids. Building on this success, Ivan IV Grozny looked to the east, and began a series of campaigns into Khanate lands in Siberia and Kazakhstan. In Siberia the Khanate was pushed past the Yenisey River by 1580, though has a harbinger of things to come, the campaigns in Kazakhstan were far less decisive and the borders changed little. Ivan IV was looking towards expanding westwards as well, and taking Baltic Sea ports, when he died in the mid-1580s, leaving the throne to his mentally incompetent son Feodor I. This, coupled with the financial problems Ivan IV’s wars had wrought, famines in the first years of the 17th Century, and rumors that Feodor I’s younger brother Dmitri was not, in fact, dead led to the Russian Time of Troubles as the new millennium dawned. 17th Century First of the False Dmitris It was at this time that Sweden and Poland-Lithuania, having seen Russian expansion as a dire concern and hoping to expand their own power base at the same time, propped up several different imposters of the dead Tsarevich Dmitri, using these imposters to legitimize aggressive campaigns into Russia while Russia was in no position to resist, especially as several Russian boyars supported “Dmitri’s” claim to the throne, labeling Boris Godunov (previously Regent later elected Tsar of All the Russias following Feodor I’s death) a usurper. Moscow was seized by “Dmitri” by 1606, but his reign was not to last. While the so-called “Golden Freedoms” he passed met with strong approval among the lesser boyars, the more powerful nobles felt threatened and several conspired against him, leading to his murder less than a year after gaining the throne. Tsar Shuiski took his place in Moscow. Intervention of Sigismund III Poland-Lithuania was not to be denied, however, and Polish magnates supported the claims of a new “Dmitri”, who was recognized by the late “Dmitri’s” wife as her husband, for the throne of Russia, pillaging, looting, and committing other atrocities as they marched towards Moscow. Ironically, this “Dmitri” was undone when the Polish king joined the war and attempted to claim Russia for his own self. Polish support of “Dmitri” evaporated, and renewed Russian opposition destroyed any chance he had for the throne. Although he attempted to flee, he was captured and executed. This was to have far-reaching consequences. Polish King Sigismund III was an ardent Catholic and a foreigner, both of which began to turn boyars who might otherwise have supported the ‘legitimate claims’ of “Dmitri” to the side of Tsar Shuiski. The beginning of the end would come in 1610. While sieging a trapped Russian force, Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski was notified of Russian relief coming in the form of 30,000 soldiers led by Tsar Shuiski himself. He broke off a detachment of ~5,000 Polish cavalry, hoping to use the darkness of night to hide his movements. Unfortunately for him, this gambit failed, and he was discovered. A Russian messenger managed to slip through the Polish lines and inform the Tsar of the hetman’s movements, and so the Tsar took up a defensive position at Klushino where a high fence and fieldworks limited the space in which the Polish hussars could effectively charge. Despite this, the Poles launched an attack in which over a dozen charges by the Poles hammered at the Russian lines to no avail as the Russians obstinately held their positions. An attempt to turn the cavalry of the Russian left flank, where the fencing was thinner, met with marginal success until a dispatch of Russian foot soldiers arrived and turned back the Polish assault. By the end of the battle, over 2,500 Poles lay dead with many more captured, wounded, or missing. The Russian army went on to destroy the rest of the Polish force that had been assailing the Russian garrison in a classic pincer action. End of the Time of Troubles While of some military significance in and of itself, these events also rallied the boyars to the Tsar, repairing many of the fractures the Polish aggression had caused. From this point on, the conflict went poorly for the Poles, and despite the loss of Tsar Shuiski in battle, the boyars continued a unified resistance to Polish ambitions in Russia. By 1612 the last of the Poles had been evicted, and a Grand National Assembly was held and the first Romanov Tsar, Mikhail I Fyodorovich, was crowned in July 1612. The Time of Troubles was over, and Russia spent time consolidating in the aftermath. On the Road to Empire Renewed conflict with Poland-Lithuania came in the late 1640s. Ukrainian Cossacks and peasants had tired of the social and religious persecution imposed by Poland, and offered then Tsar Alexey I their loyalty in exchange for his protection. His acceptance started a new Russo-Polish War that lasted over a decade before its conclusion in 1665, with Ukraine now firmly under Russian control. Between 1670 and 1692, small intermittent wars began in Siberia and Kazakhstan as well, with the balance of power constantly changing, favoring the Khanate one moment and Russia the next. Small gains were made in Siberia, but the Russians lost ground in Kazakhstan. With both nations worn down, a lasting treaty was made to recognize current claims, permitting Russian attentions to turn westwards once more. 18th Century Tsar Peter I declared the emergence of the Russian Empire in 1721, marking a new rise in Russian ambition. The Great Northern War dashed Swedish dreams of dominium maris baltici, and gained Russia recognition as a great power, as well as valuable access to the Baltic Sea and other territories, especially through the new city of St. Petersburg. Perhaps just as importantly, he brought reforms to Russia, modernizing and industrializing the nation. By the 1760s, Russia had helped partition her old enemy of Poland in a series of wars, thus advancing her borders into Central Europe all the way to Warsaw. It was around this time that the Byzantine Empire and the Russian Empire joined forces against Khanate forces in the Crimea, decisively defeating them. 19th Century First Corridor War The new millennium saw new gains for Russia, with Finland being seized in the first decade and Bessarabia only years later. It also saw the stirrings of what would later become the Western European Union or the European Federation, as a coalition of European nations waged what would later be known as the First Corridor War against the Russian Empire shortly after the fall of Bessarabia. After some inconclusive actions, the European armies began to meet with success in 1812, and by September of that year they had occupied the recently evacuated Moscow itself. This, however, turned out to be a mistake. Already depleted by the long march, and losses incurred to disease, desertion, and several minor combats, the Russian adoption of a scorched earth strategy prevented any recuperation for the battered European armies, and despite initial hopes, Russia did not surrender with the fall of Moscow. Stricken by disease, cold, and starvation, the European armies were forced to retreat, leaving hundreds of thousands of their dead behind. Russia took the offensive, securing victory, gaining the rest of Poland and parts of Prussia. Crimean War and Conquest of Siberia After consolidating some of the gains made in the First Corridor War and taking some time to recuperate, Russia began looking to expand once more. The 1850s saw the Crimean War with the Byzantine Empire. The conflict was brutal, and mismanagement fairly common on both sides, but ultimately Russia gained the Crimea and secured their rights to the northern Caucasus (first taken from the Khanate in the 18th Century) while acknowledging the Byzantine rights to the lower Caucasus. With the south and west somewhat secured, Russia turned her attentions on the old eastern adversary of the Khanate. A new wave of offensives began, incidentally coinciding with attacks on the Khanate by the Japanese Shogunate. By the 1870s, Russia had advanced deep into Khanate Siberia. When the Russian advance met the Japanese advances, talks between the two nations began amicably. They successfully negotiated a temporary alliance against the Khanate for the remainder of the war, and Russia (due to a lack of Japanese desire) was promised Siberia and Sakhalin, though the latter was later divided peacefully between Japan and Russia. By the late 19th Century unsafe working conditions, excessively long work days, and the refusal to permit the formation of independent unions had caused discontent to rise among the working class of the Russian Empire. At the same time, political activists had been agitating for political reform in the form of a constitution and the guarantee of various political freedoms for the Russian people. These forces continued to grow into the 20th Century, aided by the Fourth Corridor War and the Russian failures therein and further exacerbated by Tsar Nicholas II’s distraction with the front. 20th Century Though the war was ended through the signing of the Treaty of Minsk in 1904, the unrest at home continued unabated. In January 1905, an attempt was made by the people of St. Petersburg to present the Tsar with a petition highlighting their wishes. A peaceful march on the Winter Palace was organized, but poor communication and leadership among the palace guards resulted in sporadic shootings of the marchers. It did not take long for political activist organizations to spread the word that the Tsar had ordered the so-called “St. Petersburg Massacre”. That the Tsar was not only not in the Winter Palace, but not in St. Petersburg at all and was only informed of the shootings, and indeed the march, after the event was lost on the Russian populace, who saw this as emblematic of the disconnect between themselves and the nobility and royalty of Russia. A Tsar Assassinated Matters continued to degrade until February 1909. While traveling by rail with his family, the Tsar’s train was damaged by a bomb which derailed the train. Tsar Nicholas II was badly injured with death remaining a possibility while Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich’s injuries, exacerbated by his hemophilia, led to his untimely demise. As a result, Nicholas II elected to name his brother, Michael Alexandrovich, as his heir. Michael Alexandrovich was initially reluctant as he wished to defer the matter of succession until the Russian people could choose whether to continue the monarchy or change to a republican system. However, with Nicholas II’s injuries worsening, and following a passionate plea from his brother, Michael Alexandrovich ultimately accepted. After his coronation, Tsar Michael II used his new powers as Tsar to hold a referendum on the matter of Russian government open to all citizens of the Empire. The outcome was not terribly surprising and by May 1910 the process of reforming the Russian Empire had begun in earnest. A constitution was drafted, guaranteeing rights and freedoms for the Russian people, laying out the creation of a new legislative body (the Russian Duma) and relegating the Tsar to a largely ceremonial role as head of state. The Birth of a New Russia The first elections were dominated by the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Democratic Labour Party, with the former gaining most of the seats in the Duma and party leader Viktor Chernov attaining the Premiership. Despite the promise of a new future, leaders in the Democratic Labour Party were ultimately dissatisfied with the turn of events, and some began to turn to insurrection as a means of advancing their hardline agenda which contrasted with the more moderate socialism proposed by the Socialist-Revolutionaries. 1914 marked the birth of the Russian Revolution and an attempt by Finland to secure independence, but the mutual animosity towards the DLP shared by the PSR, other moderate factions, and other conservative or monarchist groups helped them patch their differences long enough to quash the DLP and bring the rebellious Finns into line. A series of purges against the DLP and those seen to be working with them reduced them to minor acts of terrorism in later years, and secured the power base of a rather changed PSR by eliminating what had been their primary opposition. The PSR reformed into the New Russian People’s Party in 1915 with Russia herself now called the Socialist Empire of Russia. New elections were held and to the surprise of no one, the NRP swept the Duma. Reforms began again, expanding the rights and liberties of the working class, reforming the economy, and producing a new wave of industrialization, in part spurred on by the loss of the Fourth Corridor War which had aggrieved many within Russia and the NRP. With this in mind, they set out modernizing and reforming the military as revanchist feelings towards Poland took root. Reform Begins The first steps taken were directed as those who had largely supported the PSR in the initial round of elections, rural farmers. The tax system was revised, aimed at permitting the farmers to first grow then sell a surplus, permitting their profits to be taxed in comparison to possible requisitions of surplus by the state. This bore immediate fruit, newly motivated to grow surpluses, and so improve their own condition, the farmers expanded their operations and agricultural output rose significantly. The farmers turned a profit, and the state taxed their income and, more importantly, food was on the rise. This was the real aim of the reform, as the PSR hoped to produce enough food to support a new wave of industrialization. The agricultural reform was not without problems, however. Many socialists and communists balked, decrying the new wealth of some of the farmers as the creation of a new social class or as the expansion of the bourgeoisie. Worse, concurrent with the agricultural reform, the state had begun seizing control of more and more of the industry of the nation. This led to a disruption of the industrial base and other management problems due to the youth of the new government, which slowed industrial growth. As a result, industrial goods became more expensive while food became cheaper. Farmers chose to start stockpiling; hoping prices would rise so they could sell their food for more and stop buying as many industrial goods. This rapidly created a horrible imbalance, as industrial workers weren’t receiving enough food due to stockpiling and as their goods weren’t selling, were receiving lower wages. Amid growing urban riots, the NRP fractured anew, splitting into the leftist Community of Russian Labor and the more moderate One Russia the latter of which was badly depleted in terms of membership in the process. In the elections of 1920, CRL edged out ahead of One Russia by a fair margin. CRL Rises CRL’s government began smoothly. Industry was bolstered as CRL management improved, helping to redress the imbalance between the urban workers and rural farmers. However, the imbalance had lasted too long, and by now a black market had formed, farmers selling their goods to middle men, who in turn sold it on the black market at inflated prices. CRL attempted, somewhat successfully, to clamp down on the black markets and the ‘new bourgeoisie’ of the middle men and (marginally more) wealthy farmers. Still, the imbalance refused to go away, and in 1923, CRL began to look at reinstituting requisitions. While this would have been cause enough for alarm among the peasants, CRL knew it would stall the agricultural growth and in looking for a different way to produce the same growth, someone (it has since become unclear whom, whether a leading CRL party member, a fear-monger opposed to CRL, or some third party) mentioned collectivized farming. Despite attempts to stress this was not intended, panic swept through the peasantry. The 1925 Duma elections were badly organized, in part as a result of the panics, the remaining unrest among the urban workers, and other causes, but CRL still managed to maintain their majority, at least officially. Riots among farmers broke out almost immediately, government officials were attacked, and One Russia produced two documents, the first ostensibly proving that CRL intended to institute collectivized farming; the second ostensibly proving CRL had rigged the 1925 elections. Neither was actually substantiated, but they served to whip the peasants’ fury up to a fever pitch. A new election was demanded and despite initial CRL opposition carried out six months after the first election. This time, One Russia took a decisive lead by virtue of a rousing, spirited and bold campaign that can be only be faithfully summarized as “We’re not the Community of Russian Labor”. The New One Russia In order to swell their depleted ranks to fill their Duma seats, and finding few within CRL willing to join them after the mess of mud-slinging that 1925 had eventually devolved into, One Russia eventually wound up absorbing elements that had stood to the right of their own party previously, though they continued to profess adherence to moderate socialist reform. Influenced by these new members and the relative success of the earlier agricultural reform, One Russia undertook rectifying the urban/rural imbalance as their primary objective. The state retained controls on much foreign trade and heavy industry, but (to the horror of CRL hardliners) began permitting small business and factory owners to operate with a greater degree of freedom and start turning profits. This, coupled with the inherited benefits of the improved industrial management that had formed under CRL and the calming of some of the instability that had formed in Russia, produced new growth in the industrial sectors, making clear progress in redressing the balance. One Russia also temporarily fixed prices on some goods, buying time for the new reforms to work as needed. Growth couldn’t be said to be exceptionally rapid, but it was consistent and timely enough. New regulations were introduced, ensuring safe working conditions, fair hours and better wages when they failed to keep pace appropriately. Although faster growth was possible without these, the voters made their disapproval of anyone who would prevent these reforms, the want of which had been a driving force behind earlier discontent, very well known. Teachers and doctors were brought in from friendly nations such as Carthage and Inukiriniwdene, as state reforms were directed at making education and health care widely available. By 1945, One Russian Premier Novakovich had declared that “universal health-care and education will become a reality”, though he refrained from setting a date this might be accomplished by, for which he was later criticized. The Moon Attained The European gains in atomic and nuclear energy were eventually matched by Russia, with some help from various espionage activities within the European bloc, but this was not enough to satiate the ambition festering in Russia at this time. The advent of the space age, however, provided a new opportunity. Though the Europeans sent a man into space as early as 1959, the very next year the new Russian Premier Kenvedev (NRP) announced a new Space Race, declaring that Russia would put a man on the Moon. This was accomplished in a joint mission with Carthage and Inukiriniwdene in 1975, with newly appointed Premier Alexei Androvich announcing in his public address the day after the landing, “In the Space Race declared fifteen years ago, Russia has joined with Carthage and Inukiriniwdene in taking the lead.” Military Army: 21 Category 1 divisions 7 tank, 14 motor rifle Category 1 divisions are kept at full readiness, and are either the first wave of assault or the first line of defense in the event of war. They are the best equipped divisions in the Russian military, and are focused largely in the western part of Russia, which is more valuable and more likely to be embroiled in war. *1 MRD in Eastern Siberia *1 MRD and 1 Tank Division near Kazakhstan *4 MRDs and 1 Tank Division in the Caucaus *8 MRDs and 5 Tank Divisions in Eastern Europe 42 Category 2 divisions: 13 tank, 28 motor rifle Category 2 divisions require approximately one week to reach full readiness, having nearly all of their equipment on hand, but being initially understaffed. They are to support the Category 1 divisions in the event of war, and are positioned slightly further behind the Category 1s along the borders. Most are placed in Eastern Europe or the Caucasus, with the rest supporting Siberia or the border with Kazakhstan. *1 MRD in Central Siberia *1 MRD and 1 Tank Division in Eastern Siberia *2 MRDs and 1 Tank Division near Kazakhstan *6 MRDs and 3 Tank Divisions in the Caucasus *18 MRDs and 8 Tank Divisions in Eastern Europe 70 Category 3 divisions: 23 tank, 47 motor rifle divisions Category 3 divisions take longer than one week to be brought to full readiness. Though they have much of their initial equipment on hand, they are very understaffed and have older equipment than their counter-parts in the Category 1 and 2 divisions. They are to form a strong but ready reserve in the event of war, and are largely placed further from the borders and throughout Siberia and eastern Russian holdings. 5 airborne divisions Positioned in Eastern Europe. Armor: T-62s, T-64s, T-72s, T-80s (nearing production) Tank Division: *~330 tanks *9 ATGM vehicles *~75 AA guns and vehicles *~100 artillery pieces *~1,800 transport vehicles: 80 APCs, 40 scout cars, > 1,500 trucks and trailers Motor Rifle Division: *~200 tanks *~45 AT systems: 18 field guns, 27 ATGM vehicles *~45 AA guns and vehicles *~150 artillery pieces *~2,000 transport vehicles: 200 APCs, 70 scout cars, > 1,500 trucks and trailers Navy: *3 Carriers: 1 Kiev, ''2 Moskva-class '''helicopter '''carriers (''Moskva, Leningrad) 30 Cruisers: 4 Project Kresta I, 8 Project Kresta II (building 2), 4 Kynda, 2 Chapayev (soon to be decommissioned), 4 Project Kara (building 3), 12 Sverdlov (mostly gun cruisers, 2 with Helos/SAMs, scrapped late ‘80s) (Slavas start being laid down in ’76) 44 Destroyers: 2 Kashin, 4 Modified Kashin (Sovremenny in commission in ’80), 27 Kotlin (mods: 9 SAM, 11 ASW), 4 Kildin (3 mod), 7 Kanin 86 Frigates: 11 Burevestnik (8 building, 2 later modernized in the ‘90s), 1 Burevestnik M (10 building), 26 Riga (decommissioned by ’80), 30 Petya, 18 Mirka 94 Corvettes: 18 Grisha (20 building), 5 Grisha II (CG mod, 7 building), (33 Grisha III building, 8 CG building), 14 Nanuchka (7 building, note later IIIs and IVs), 57 Poti 324 Missile Boats: 35 Komar, 175 Osa I, 114 Osa II 366 Diesel Subs: 214 Whiskey (1 SC, 6 TC, 6 LB), 23 Golf, 16 Juliett, 25 Zulu, 20 Romeo, 65 Foxtrot, 3 Tango (more building), 51 Nuclear Attack Subs: 13 November, 16 Victor I, 7 Victor II, 5 Echo I, 42 Nuclear Ballistic Subs: 8 Hotel, 34 Yankee 39 Nuclear Cruise Missile Subs: 11 Charlie I, 2 Charlie II (more building), 29 Echo II Air Force: MiG-21s, MiG-23s, MiG-25s, Tu-22Ms Nuclear: Category:A World of Difference (RP)